SPORTS BRIEFS

Agencies

BASEBALL

Andruw Jones arrested

Former Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones was free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta early on Tuesday on a battery charge, according to jail records. Gwinnett County Detention Center records show that Jones was briefly jailed after police responded to a call about a domestic dispute between Jones and his wife in Duluth, Georgia. He was released later on Tuesday morning. Once one of the premier players in Major League Baseball, Jones earlier this month signed a US$3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League. He won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves awards as a center fielder for the Atlanta Braves from 1998 to 2007.

SOCCER

Hodgson wants shootouts

England coach Roy Hodgson believes using penalties to settle deadlocked friendlies could help reverse the country’s dismal record in tournament shootouts. England lost their sixth shootout in seven attempts to be knocked out of the European Championship quarter-finals in June by Italy. Hodgson said his players need to overcome the “weight of failure” in shootouts ahead of the 2014 World Cup, so he is focusing part of his preparations on tackling the problem. “Maybe in one of the friendly matches, if the game finishes in a draw, you should suggest to the opponents that, ‘Let’s finish it on a penalty shootout,’” Hodgson told Sky Sports TV. “There is a lot more relevance to a [shootout] competition at the end of a friendly in front of a big crowd than there is when you are taking penalties day after day in training and watching players quite happily whizz them into the back of the net,” Hodgson said.

SOCCER

Friedel extends Spurs deal

Veteran goalkeeper Brad Friedel has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur through to 2014, the Premier League club said yesterday. The 41-year-old American, Tottenham’s first choice goalkeeper since joining the north London club from Aston Villa in 2010, has found himself edged out by France international Hugo Lloris in recent weeks, but remains a popular figure. Friedel is the only player in Premier League history to make more than 300 consecutive starts, reaching 310 before his run ended in October when Lloris started a home match against Aston Villa. The former Columbus Crew and Liverpool player was recently linked with a move back to Blackburn Rovers, another one of his former clubs, but said he was happy at Spurs.

BASEBALL

Wonders accuse KBO

South Korea’s Goyang Wonders have expressed anger at not being allowed to join the minor leagues next year, accusing the Korea Baseball Organisation (KBO) of breaking a promise to allow the team to join the professional ranks. General manager Ha Song told local media yesterday that KBO officials had reneged on a pledge to let the Wonders join the lower-tier Futures League. “As one of the preconditions for launching our ball club, the KBO had promised that we would be in the Futures League by 2013,” Ha was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. “But the KBO simply told us that we will play 48 games in 2013 again. The KBO has given us no reason for that.” The Wonders, the only independent club with no league affiliation in South Korea, have played 48 unofficial games against minor league affiliates of top-flight clubs since being founded a year ago. The Wonders, made up of journeymen players, undrafted high school and college graduates, and former American minor leaguers, wanted 100 games in 2013.

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